


Past Connections

by supernaturalandshiz



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Case Fic, Chesapeake Ripper, Crossover, Hannibal Lecter is in Prison, Hannibal Lecter is the Chesapeake Ripper, Not Beta Read, Timeline is Scuffed, Will Graham is NOT a Cannibal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:41:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29436246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernaturalandshiz/pseuds/supernaturalandshiz
Summary: Although getting a phone call from Jack Crawford at 3am was not ideal, hearing the urgent tone in the others voice got Will out of bed and on his feet. “I know that you’re not officially an agent anymore, but I need you to consult on this case.”ORThe Chesapeake Ripper has a copycat.
Relationships: Jack Crawford & Will Graham, Will Graham & Brian Zeller, Will Graham & Jimmy Price
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Past Connections

**Author's Note:**

> I made the Hannibal tv show set in the early 2000s and this work is set around the 5th season, but there are no spoilers past season 3.

Although getting a phone call from Jack Crawford at 3 am was not ideal, hearing the urgent tone in the other's voice got Will out of bed and on his feet. “I know that you’re not officially an agent anymore, but I need you to consult on this case.” 

“Jack, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Thinking about the short time he had worked for the FBI brought a flurry of emotions and memories that he had never fully processed. It was one thing to work closely with the BAU when he knew them, but it had been years and the team was full of new people that he hadn’t met.

“Please Will, just come in. I’ll give the details of the case, then you can make a decision.” Jack made a good point, he didn’t even know what this was about. 

“Alright, I’ll see you in a few hours.” He hung up and rubbed at his eyes. Winston shot up when the man walked into the kitchen and his tail began to wag violently. Will chuckled and stooped to pet the dog. As he poured a mug of coffee, Buster woke up as well, trotting over and barking a greeting.

After Will was sufficiently awake and prepared, he grabbed his keys and walked out to his car. The sun had begun to shine through the treeline. The light washed over him as the engine rumbled to life. He leaned back in his seat for a moment and took a deep breath. For a fleeting moment, he considered calling Jack back to scrap the idea but thought better of it.

The drive to Quantico was a little under an hour, but the cold morning air and foggy roads gave the impression that it was longer. Sitting behind the wheel, on his way to the one place he promised himself he would never be in again, he thought about his past. It was a wonder that he hadn’t moved after what happened, after all, he had almost rotted away in a prison just one state away. Maybe it was the memories that kept him there, or maybe that he would have been seen as insane anywhere else.

He sat in the parking lot for a while after he arrived, thinking. The BAU Headquarters had gone through quite a few renovations since he had last set foot inside. A lot changed, and that made him nervous. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the window. He jolted and looked over. Brian Zeller stood outside his dingy car with his hands stuffed in his pockets. 

Will breathed a sigh of relief before opening his door. “Hey, thanks for scaring the shit out of me,” he joked. 

“Yeah,” the other chuckled, “I thought you got paid to stare into space on crime scenes, not in your car. So you got called in on this one?” They continued their conversation while they walked into the building. The new interior felt intimidating and the elevator was a new addition, but talking to Brian calmed him considerably. 

Jack had been waiting and waived the two over as soon as they stepped out of the elevator. They walked down a hallway bustling with people into what seemed to be Jack’s new office. The décor was familiar and a huge comfort as Jack described the case.

Apparently, the team had been tracking a serial killer for a few months, but they were always one step behind. Will, Brian, and Jimmy had only been called in when the killer started taking on attributes of the Chesapeake Ripper. Something curled in his stomach and made his heart pound.

“We are the only ones with intimate knowledge of the Ripper case, so I thought that calling you in for a copycat would be the best idea. Now, our tech analyst is working to take down the articles on TattleCrime, but it’s likely that the copycat already knows the details, so we still have to be vigilant.” When Jack showed the first victim, Will turned his head. It had been years since he had seen a body, and he had preferred it that way. 

They got through the case and Jack moved away from his desk. Brian mulled over the file for a moment before inquiring, “You have a tech analyst?” 

The Section Chief stopped and let out a laugh, “I guess I should introduce you to the team.”

Will walked behind the only two people he was comfortable with as they walked into a new room. “This,” he gestured to the area in front of them, “is the bull-pen. It’s where we do paperwork. Down that hall is the tech analyst’s office and those offices are for the Unit Chief, Hotchner, and the Senior Supervisory Special Agent, Rossi.” They headed into a room filled with people that Will had never seen before - the new team, he guessed. 

Jack gestured to each agent as he introduced them. “Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, Spencer Reid, Jennifer Jareau, and the tech analyst - Penelope Garcia.” Will felt his pulse jump as he glanced around the room. New people were terrifying, but he knew he had to get over it if he was going to be any help on the case. 

“Guys, this is Will Graham and Brian Zeller, I know you’ve met Jimmy Price. They put the ripper away, so they’ll be helping with the copycat.” 

The Unit Chief nodded toward them, “Welcome to the team. I’m glad you’re here. The first step will be to interview the real Ripper - we could get useful information from him.” The proposition made the knot in his stomach twist again.

“Jack, I don’t think-” he began to mumble, but cut himself off. “Will he even talk to us?” He looked at the ground to avoid the inquiring looks he got. He mentally cursed himself when Jack didn’t respond, but another agent did - Reid, he reminded himself.

“That’s a good point. From what I’ve read about the original case, the Ripper hasn’t agreed to talk to  _ anyone _ . Plus, he was a physiatrist and based on his knowledge, I’m guessing he can be manipulative.” That almost made Will laugh. Manipulative was one word he would use to describe the man that he had once seen as a friend.

“We’ve seen through manipulation tactics before, I’m sure we can do it with Hannibal. We can send in Rossi and Morgan, but we should switch out every once in a while to keep him on his toes.” The thought of having to speak to the man made him nauseous. 

A lot of the details had been kept out of Hannibal's case file, which was pulled off by putting the information into Will’s file which had been thrown out promptly after the other was imprisoned. At the time, they had decided that it wouldn’t be a good look for Will and that he might end up being on a watchlist, but now he was glad that none of the strangers knew.

In the time between meeting the team and driving up to the BSHCI, most of Will’s interactions with them had been incredibly awkward, and that still stood as everyone that wasn’t in the interrogation room observed from behind the glass. The room was silent except for the scene they were watching play out.

Will froze when Hannibal looked through the one-way mirror and into his eyes. His breath caught in his throat and his pulse thumped in his ears. Hannibal turned back to the two agents that sat with him, “Say, is Will Graham with you? Whatever happened to him?”

“I...I don’t know who you are referring to. Answer the question, please,” It was just a second of hesitation, but he noticed. A sick smirk spread over Hannibal’s face and Will wanted to cry.

“I want to speak with him.” His eyes snapped to Jack, and he stared into his eyes, panicked. He could vaguely hear the Senior Supervisory agent arguing with Hannibal, but he couldn’t make out the exact words through the blood rushing in his ears. Hannibal’s voice cut through his fear though, “I won’t say anything else until I see him.”

Rossi sighed before he and Morgan got up and left the room. The door opened and the two walked in. “So, are we sending him in?” Will’s breath was coming out roughly as his fear turned to anger. His lip curled up into a scowl.

He was thankful for Jack, who was adamantly denying the proposition, but he had a job to do. “No, I am  _ not  _ letting him in there with that monster. He-” Will knew first hand how dangerous interrupting the older man could be, except he didn’t care at the moment. 

“I’m fine, Jack.” He looked into the eyes of the other for a moment before his gaze darted away again. “He’ll talk to me, so I should just go in there. He’s in cuffs and you’re watching, so what can he really do?” Jack glared at him and he knew what was going to happen, but he still jumped at the loud opposition he was met with.

“Absolutely not! Do you seriously think that after  _ everything _ , I would just let him talk to you? Alana was right, I shouldn’t have let you get close, and I  _ will not  _ make that mistake again.” The scrutinous eyes of the other agents were probably what gave him confidence because he cut in again. “Maybe he’ll talk to me. He’s familiar with me to and he’s probably just looking for someone-”

“ _ Jack _ , he wants  _ me _ . I’m not naïve anymore, he won’t be able to pull the shit he did before.” Jack continued to glower at him, but let out a deep breath. 

“Let’s let him sit in his juices for a while before you go in. Someone check-in with Garcia and the others, Will, follow me.” As soon as the two were out of the room, the BAU team dropped their guard.

“Why the hell are they being so vague? It’s creeping me out.” Morgan turned to look at the others.

“I don’t know, but I’d say  _ something  _ happened and that something was probably traumatic. I mean, Graham hasn’t worked a case since this guy was caught.” It was likely the first time that Rossi had felt uncomfortable under the gaze of a killer - the predatory look had creeped him out.

Hotch attempted to stop their gossip, but it was thwarted by Emily. “Now that I think about it, there were some gaps in the timeline. Like  _ day long  _ gaps. We’re missing something.” She didn’t mean to make it sound so cynical, but the circumstances were suspicious.

The unit chief gave up on reining in their chatter for the sole reason that he was also a little wary. There  _ were  _ spaces in the chronology. Their section chief wasn’t telling them everything and they knew. Hotch looked out the small glass portion of the door to keep an eye on the conversation happening on the other side.

Meanwhile, Jack and Will both leaned against the wall adjacent to the two rooms. They kept their voices low so the noise wouldn’t carry over to either of the rooms. “Interrogations are difficult, Will, and you have to stay in character. If you show him weakness, he’ll try to use it, so you’ve got to show him how much you’ve changed.” His thoughts felt muggy -  _ ‘What if he tries something? Or says something about what happened?’  _ \- He was tired of being looked down on though, so he persisted.

“I don’t think that’s the best option. He’s used to dealing with people of authority, but he might spill more information to someone he thinks he can manipulate. Even though he knows he's being watched, he’ll open up - at least a little - when he thinks he’s the one in power.” 

The agent placed a hand on his shoulder, “I knew you still had it in you. Now, you head in there while I deal with my nosy subordinates.” The familiarity of the situation gave him a sense of relief even as he walked into the figurative jaws of Hannibal Lecter once again.

A cruel grin spread over Hannibal’s face as he sat down. “Ah hello, Will. I see you’ve come for a visit.” The steely tone forced a shiver down the smaller man’s spine.

He gulped before replying. “I came to ask you something, Dr. Lecter. Have you been in contact with anyone outside of the prison?” His was uneven and it wasn’t intentional. The other's eyes bore into him and he felt restless. 

“That’s right, you’re here to ask about the copycat. I’ll tell you the same thing I told Miss Lounds - you ought to remember her -” his gaze was nauseating, “If I had instructed someone to kill for me,” he leaned closer to Will, “they would have done it right.”

It took everything in Will to not launch at the man across from him. “You spoke to Freddie Lounds? When?” The inquiry pulled a genuine smile to Hannibal, and that terrified the temporary agent.

“Since you get to ask me so many questions, I should be able to return the favor. May I interest you in some psychiatry, Mr. Graham?” It was a miracle that he had maintained eye contact for so long, but that made Will shift in his seat and look away.

On the other side of the mirror, Jack was considering pulling him out of the interrogation room but decided against it. The agents of the BAU got more confused as time went on.

“ _ After  _ you tell me what you talked about with Freddie Lounds.” The sentence was nearly a growl, but Hannibal took the bait anyway.

“Oh, not much. She seemed to be toying with the idea of a book.” He said it to play with Will, but his pupils dilated the slightest bit and Will was satisfied. He let himself relax at the thought of outsmarting the ex-psychiatrist once again.

“Will that book be about you… or me?” The doctor chuckled then and Will was beginning to feel like he was back in that dreaded office again. 

“Well Mr. Graham, we’ll just have to see.” He changed the subject so suddenly that Will’s head spun. “How are the dogs? What do you feed them these days?” Anger flared back up inside him so he put an end to that conversation.

“Well, I try to avoid feeding them long pig.” His smile was both shaky and an empty gesture. Hannibal gave him a fond look - something that made his skin crawl.

Will stormed out of the interrogation room after asking more questions and he was practically vibrating with rage. Hannibal still knew exactly to get under his skin, but that didn’t matter now that it was over. 

“He fed human meat to your dogs?” It was the first thing said to him when he left the room - agent Prentiss was curious - and it took him a second to process.

“Jack - Wait, that's your first question? - Nevermind; he doesn’t know who it is, but Freddie Lounds does.” The team members looked surprised and confused.

“Wait a minute, how do you know?” He looked over to Morgan then the floor, then back to Jack.

“Uh, when he was talking about her, he was lying, so either he told her who it is, or she talked to him about the copycat but didn’t tell him who it was. She probably witnessed something, Jack; you know how she is.” The BAU members still stood, bewildered. 

Jack contemplated it for a moment before turning to agent Hotchner, “I need you to get Garcia to find a phone number and call a reporter - Fredricka Lounds - in for an interview. Will, Morgan, and Reid, we’ll go to the latest crime scene; Brian and Jimmy will meet us there. Rossi, Prentiss, you two stay here and try to get more information. Hotch, I need you to interview Lounds back at Quantico.” 

Each agent nodded as they were assigned a task and left to complete it. “And JJ, I want to hold off on the press conference for now.” The media liaison seemed nervous when she replied.

“Shouldn’t we alert the public as soon as possible?” She reminded him of a nicer Alana, one that offered friendship instead of judgment. Perhaps the bureau hadn’t changed so much.

“No, it will just spur him on. I’ll let you know when you can hold one, but for now, help Hotch with Miss Lounds.” he dismissed her worry. She showed a bright smile before turning on her heel to follow Hotchner.

The crime scene was spattered with dried blood, which made Will’s stomach churn. He looked at the photo of what the room had looked like before the coroner removed the body. There were tools sticking out at horrid angles, and the man was laid out in what could be considered an artistic manner. Brian was pacing, describing what happened. “C.O.D. was strangulation, not mutilation, and there are no organs missing. This guy isn’t copying Hannibal because he likes the gritty details. But, these were made premortem, so we are looking at a sadist.”

Will hummed in agreeance. “That’s not a lot to go off of.” Until Freddie was interviewed or they were able to get something from Hannibal, they had hit a dead end. 

“Well, do I have news for you.” Will started at the new voice but recovered quickly and turned to his friend. Jimmy raised a hand in greeting, “Long time, no see. Anywho, the victim went missing almost 48 hours before the time of death. He was held here for like two days…” He paused with a grimace before continuing, “The tech analyst looked around and she found footage of the unsub stalking the victim.”

Brian and Will turned to him at the same time, “Unsub?” The other three in the room laughed before Morgan informed them.

“It means ‘unknown subject’. I’ll ask Garcia to send us the footage.” As he walked away, Will could hear his voice faintly, “Hey, sweetness…”

They watched the clip enough times to give the short man a headache. The face of the unsub was only seen for a fraction of a second before the man turned away again, but apparently, it was enough. “Hey Garcia, can you blow up and sharpen this image?”

The peppy agent chirped a response, “Of course, boy wonder.” It took a moment, but soon you could make out a clear face.

“Alright, thank you, Garcia. You run that image through ViCAP and get back to us.” Jack pressed the ‘end call’ button and the atmosphere was filled with silence again. “Not much to do until we get a call back.” Clearly, this tech analyst was some kind of magician, because the call came in after another half hour.

“Hello, lovelies, I am calling with some interesting information. We got a hit in ViCAP for one Peter Bland. He has multiple assault charges - one including a neighbor's dog, which is a little disheartening - but interestingly enough, he used to write for a website -” she paused for dramatic effect, “TattleCrime. I’ve already put out an APB/”

“Oh, you have  _ got  _ to be kidding me. I should have arrested that woman when I had the chance, this is bull.” Jack’s reaction would have been comical to Will if he hadn’t been just as angry. Freddie had been the bane of his existence back in the day and seeing her actions - which never failed to skirt around the edges of barely legal - brought to justice. 

But, no matter how much he despised the reporter, “Jack, why are you angry at her when practically anyone can get a spot on her god awful writing team?” 

Brian and Jimmy turned to each other as the two began to bicker. Morgan looked half scared and half like he was going to try to intervene. “Just like old times.”

Meanwhile, Hotch and JJ were having a wonderful time interviewing the woman in question. JJ always considered herself a patient person, but that patience was starting to wear thin. “Miss Lounds, you are not being detained, we would just like to ask you a couple of questions.” 

“Did you speak with Hannibal Lecter about the copycat?” Hotch was feeling frustrated as well and made another attempt to get a response.

“I did. Since when is that a crime?” The redhead crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. JJ would have called her out on the childish behavior if not for the urgency.

“I already told you, you weren’t arrested. So, do you know who the copycat is?” Aaron had dealt with a lot of annoying people during his career, especially annoying reporters, but never like this.

“So, does that mean I can leave? I thought they recorded everything in that place anyway.” JJ could strangle her.

“Miss Lounds, you are fully aware that you requested to speak to him in the one room that your conversation couldn't be recorded in. Now tell me what you talked about before I call Jack Crawford in.” At healing the section chief’s name, she perked up.

“Crawford is still in the FBI? I thought he would have retired by now.” She reached for her notepad but Hotch stopped her.

He placed a hand over hers and gave a smile to mask his exasperation. “Answer the question.” 

Something that Jack had warned them about was the fact that she probably wouldn’t give them any useful information unless it benefited her, so it was no surprise when she said, “I’ll give you my recording of what we talked about  _ if  _ … you give me full access to the copycat story.”

JJ would have stepped in, probably to tell her to off, but Hotch held up a hand. “Alright, give me the recording and I’ll give you a copy of the case file.” JJ gaped for a moment before realizing what the other was trying to accomplish. As soon as the reporter fished the recorder out of her bag and slid it across the table, Hotch was on his way out of the room, JJ on his tail. “You’re free to go.”

Freddie was angry that her equipment was taken. “Wait! What about the file?” 

JJ turned to look at her, “Miss Lounds, it’s not illegal for an FBI agent to lie for information.” She heaved a sigh as she left the room and approached her boss, “So, what’s on the tape?” Hotch hit the ‘play’ button.

_ “Dr. Lecter, were you aware of the copycat that is replicating your kill style?” _

_ “No, Miss Lounds, please, tell me more.” _

_ “Here, this photo was taken from the latest scene.” _

_ “There are no evidence markers. Miss Lounds, where did you get this photo?” _

_ “I have my connections.” _

_ “So you know something the police don’t? You could get arrested for that.” _

_ “They won’t know unless you tell them.” _

_ “What makes you think I won’t?” _

_ “Because, I can get you what you want; entertainment.” _

_ “And what do you get from this?” _

_ “A story.” _

“Well, that is certainly incriminating. Shouldn’t we get back in there and arrest her?” JJ was confused as to why the woman wasn’t already in cuffs.

“No, she knows who’s doing this. I’ll send an agent to observe her” The two then parted ways. JJ went to talk to Garcia to ask the techie to access Freddie’s calls and texts while Hotch called Jack.

“Hey Garcia, I need you to look into Freddie Lounds’ phone records.” The other immediately got to typing.

“Of course I can do that… oh, it looks like she has a bunch of calls to the same number, but only one text, an address in Chesapeake. It looks like a café. I sent it to all your phones.” Her phone then rang, “Hello, my Chocolate Thunder.”

“Hey, Baby Girl, Reid and I are on the way to that address you sent.” 

“Cool! It’s a café, so I would ask if they have cameras and look for Lounds.” Morgan thanked her and ended the call.

Derek and Spencer were silent for the first portion of the drive before they sparked a conversation. “So, Pretty Boy, instead of staring out the window, why don’t you tell me your theories on what was left out of the file.”

That got the younger agent to perk up. “Well, it obviously has to do with Will Graham. There have been quite a few articles written about him. I read a TattleCrime article about him when I was in college that accused him of being just as insane as the people he was trying to catch, but I don’t think that’s true. TattleCrime wrote a  _ lot  _ of articles about the Chesapeake Ripper, which Lounds was able to accomplish through unethical journalism, but so many were taken down that half of it might not even be true.”

“I also attended one of his lectures while I was in the academy. He talked about a cold case that he had been a key part in solving, it was pretty interesting. I don’t know what they’re hiding, but it’s pretty obvious that Graham had a close relationship with Hannibal at some point.” He stopped as they pulled up to the café and stepped out of the SUV.

“Hello ma’am, I’m agent Morgan and this is Dr. Reid, we’re with the FBI,” Morgan introduced them to the cashier as they held up their badges. “No one is in trouble, we would just like to ask if you have security cameras.”

“Yeah, we do, if you come to the back, I can pull up the footage.” She called over a co-worker to take her spot and showed them to a different room. She pulled up the footage on a clunky monitor.

When she moved away, Reid took a seat in front of it. He rolled it back to the date the text was sent from Freddie's phone and played it. They watched people come in and out of the shop in fast forward until they saw the reporter. “She’s with Bland.”

“Look at that,” Spencer rewound the tape and pointed to the corner of the screen, “he got out of a work truck…” he looked closer. “ADT? Garcia said he was listed as unemployed, but we should ask her to run the truck number.”

After calling Garcia, they found that the truck had been stolen and she got a hit on the license plate number. It was last seen on a traffic cam parked at a shutdown psychiatry office. “Oh…” The two agents looked at each other questioningly while Garcia processed the information she was about to relay. “This office was owned by a… Hannibal Lecter.” 

Morgan choked on his tongue in his surprise. He coughed out, “What the hell?” Reid immediately pulled his phone out to dial Hotch.

“Alright, when you get there, wait for backup,” their boss instructed. They thanked the cashier and rushed out to the SUV.

Tires squealed as they came to an abrupt stop. Jack and Will had gotten their first and the older was leaning against the vehicle while the other paced. “Get your vests on, we’re going in.” 

After shrugging on their vests, the four walked up to the entrance guns drawn. Spencer glanced toward the van. The doors hung open and there was another body inside. “What happened?”

He didn’t get an answer because Jack was kicking down the door and making his way inside. It took them a few minutes to clear all of the rooms, and when they returned, Will stood in the doorway. He was zoned out, looking at one of the chairs with spite in his eyes. He flinched violently when Jack came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Woah, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, it’s just… you know,” He motioned to the room while Jack nodded solemnly.

“There’s no one here, sir.” The section chief pinched his nose and furrowed his brows. 

“I’ll call in a team to check for DNA and prints in the van. You three head back to Quantico and go over the evidence again.” Will looked at his friend nervously. He wasn’t really prepared to be alone with a bunch of FBI agents he didn’t know, but Jack just flashed a sympathetic smile.

He climbed into the backseat of the SUV that Reid and Morgan got into and pulled out his phone. Jack had texted him a simple thumbs-up, which made the corners of his lips turn up. “What are you smiling about, pipsqueak?” 

The jab at his height made him chuckle, “Eh, just a friend.” He returned to silence and bounced his leg to calm his nerves.

Will, Brian, and Jimmy were busy reviewing each piece of evidence to give a rough draft of a profile for the team to perfect. Jack was still at the most recent crime scene, and Hannibal refused to talk anymore. That gave the BAU members ample time to gossip. 

“That man is very fucking creepy. I felt like he wanted to take a bite out of me the entire time we were in there.” Emily sounded grateful to be out of the situation and they could hear Rossi laughing in the background.

“Did you get anything useful?” They put their discussion on pause while the two left the prison, but soon Emily was talking again.

“No. Nothing about the copycat, anyway,  _ but  _ he did mention something suspicious about our ‘on-call agent’.” She wavered again while she got behind the wheel, fumbling to turn the phone on speaker. “He said something along the lines of, ‘I hope you're not planning to put him in here’, but it was… oddly condescending.”

“I know we shouldn’t pry, but when have we ever kept our noses in our own business.” Garcia smiled at the proposition masked as a rhetorical question.

“I’m on it. William Graham… there’s nothing. His file reaches the early 2000s before he completely drops off the map. There’s no record of his time with the FBI after teaching, no job listing, purchases, phone calls, just… nothing. Either he stopped existing or this is a cover-up.” Everyone shared looks before Hotch cleared his throat sharply. 

“We can’t jump to conclusions. Even if it is a cover-up, we have to assume there was a good reason until proven otherwise. Dave, Emily, we’ll see you soon.” He leaned down to end the call and glared at the rest. “JJ, Jack just called me about a press conference. You guys should help Graham and the others.” The agents scrambled to follow orders.

“Brian I haven’t worked a case in  _ years  _ you can’t just expect me to solve this in a day!” The agents were surprised to walk into the lab to see a fight. Will was pacing, dragging a hand down his face. Brian stood glaring and rolled his eyes. Jimmy was sorting through a box of evidence, looking displeased.

They all seemed angry, which made the agents freeze in their tracks. “Yeah, well, you seemed pretty good at it back then.” Will’s pacing stopped and he rounded on the other.

“I had  _ just  _ been removed from the field! I was working homicide for like 5 years before that, but I didn’t make a point of looking at dead bodies while I was ‘retired’.” Everyone was astounded to see what was happening, but Reid jumped to a conclusion. Brian must have said something - most likely jokingly - that genuinely annoyed Will, and it escalated to this.

He decided to jump in at the pause. “Hello,” he waved awkwardly, “uh, sorry to interrupt, but how can we help?” Jimmy looked thankful for the assistance and motioned to the boxes.

“Well,” he pushed a box toward them, “let’s start with making a connection between any of the Ripper victims with the copycat’s victims. It might take a while because pretty much none of the files from then were digital and there are a  _ lot  _ of victims to go - are you actually reading that fast?” Spencer had already grabbed one of the boxes and started flipping through files. 

“Yeah, he does that,” Emily smirked, pride evident, as she removed the lid of another box. 

Jimmy was right, hours passed before they found a similarity. Morgan was considering taking a break to grab a coffee or scratch his legs before noticing something. “Garcia, were any of the victims doctors? Look for anyone that made house calls.”

There was a response of keyboard clicks and humming then, “Uhm...yes! I have a Joseph Benitez; he is a physician who graduated from John Hopkins very recently.” 

“Alright, can you look into one of the Ripper victims, Andrew Caldwell?” 

“Of course I can. Catch you in a bit.” There was a beep as the call ended and Morgan stood up with a groan.

“I’m gonna grab a coffee while we wait, do any of you want a cup?” Reid absentmindedly raised a hand and Zeller hummed in place of a ‘yes’.

Not long after Morgan’s return, Garcia called back, “Hello my furry friends and lovely acquaintances. This Andrew was quite the type, I mean he has  _ multiple  _ complaints about being homophobic and or simply an ass to his patients. Plus, his myspace page, which is now deleted, obviously, is  _ full  _ of remarks and personal details of co-workers; he was a real dick.”

Morgan opened his mouth, but the woman on the other end continued, “Before you ask, I am searching through Joseph’s social media and… nothing of the sort. He was a real upstanding guy.”

Finding the tie made Reid perk up. “If the connection is primarily linked to occupation, he might also go chronologically. Garcia, who was the next victim?”

“A stroke of pure genius from boy wonder, as always… the next victim would be Michelle Vocalson, she was a customer service worker for Stanwood Tailored coats.” 

“Do you think he’ll go after a tailor specifically, or just someone that works in customer service?” Prentiss set aside the files she was reading to pay closer attention. 

_ “Now we would like to warn everyone, just as we did with the original Ripper, to be mindful of who you come in contact with, where you are, and people you see. This copycat is trying to create panic, so I will ask that you stay calm in these trying times. We also think that his next target will be a customer service worker, possibly working for a tailor. If that applies to you, please, be cautious. Thank you.” _

JJ stepped off the pedestal and pushed through the crowd of rowdy reporters. She approached Hotch, annoyance clear on her face. “What now?”

“We should visit local tailoring companies to see if they have any suspicious companies. It’s just a start, but it’s all we have right now.” JJ nodded grimly and followed him to the SUV.

The visits to each shop went by as a blur. Some owners were kind and others were offstandish, but they did find a shop with a suspicious customer. They found almost weekly purchases; all of them were inexpensive and insignificant and the gentle old woman behind the counter had described him as threatening. 

Exiting the building, Hotch fished his phone out, pressing one of his speed dial buttons. “Garcia, can you run a Brad Pelten?” 

“I can do that, yes, sir… oh. It appears that there is one Brad Pelten, currently living in Washington - the state not our lovely little town - so I am assuming he isn’t the unsub.” Hotch and JJ pondered the new information for a moment, but Garcia beat them to a breakthrough.

“Hey, what if it’s an anagram?” Keys clicked and she gasped. “If you move some letters around, ‘Brad Pelten’ becomes ‘Peter Bland’.”

“Thank you, Garcia. We’ll head back inside and review the camera footage to see if there is a vehicle.” The line ended and Garcia sat back, spinning in her chair momentarily. 

She made a noise of surprise when there was a knock at her door. “Come on in,” she called cheerily.

The door creaked open to reveal the man that she had just been conspiring against. “Hi,” he waved somewhat awkwardly, “We met earlier.” Garcia took pity on the nervous kind-of agent.

“Yes, of course, what can help you with?” The other shuffled anxiously, looking anywhere but her eyes. Years ago, it was a demeanor she would equate to Reid - which was probably why she found it so endearing. 

“Uh, I was just wondering how much my file says about the Ripper case,” he muttered.

“Oh! Your file actually goes to your time teaching here, but then you completely disappear, like, not even a paper trail. That probably means that you had a file started specifically for your time with the BAU, then something happened. If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?” She didn’t want to overstep her bounds, but she also  _ really  _ wanted to know.

“It’s… complicated. Sorry to intrude, thanks.” She was left baffled in her office but shook it off.

Jack ordered them all to go home and rest, yet neglected to take his own advice. He had decided that - It was ‘just one of those cases’ that you shouldn’t leave, even for a second. That proved to be true when he got a call in the early hours of the morning before the sun rose. He felt guilty calling will; he felt like he might end up pushing him too hard again, but this new information was too important to leave for the morning.

An hour later, the team and its new additions were gathered in the briefing room. “I have no clue how this wasn’t noticed before - definitely the work of that  _ idiot  _ that replaced Chilton - but Hannibal has had  _ one  _ visitor that has visited over 10 times. Despite the security of the prison, I guess that background checks are no longer procedure, because he was visited by,” he turned to look at Will, who narrowed his eyes, “Abigail Hobbs.”

“Oh my god. We were wrong, he knows the unsub. We need the recordings from every visit with her.” Will’s expression was blank, but his breathing was becoming uneven. He threaded a hand into his hair and began to pace.

“Abigail Hobbs… she was one of the Ripper’s victims, right,” Reid wondered aloud.

“Yes, they had a somewhat close relationship before her murder and she was killed as part of a larger scheme. Will, what’s up?” The section chief kept in mind that he had to make sure his friend was alright to avoid something like last time.

“Why is he doing this?” He looked up at Jack and the older saw the same confusion and fear he did during the first Ripper case. “Why now? Why is he  _ toying  _ with us after almost a decade? It just doesn’t make sen-  _ Oh  _ !”

“Jack,” he paused, locking eyes again, “he’s playing with us again. Inflicting maximum damage.” When his colleagues remained confused, he sighed. “It’s close to Beverly’s birthday.” Brian gave an angry exhale, clenching his fist. There was a lot to hate about Dr. Lecter.

At the puzzled looks of the BAU, Jack explained, “Beverly was one of our best agents. She got pointed in the direction of Hannibal and ended one of his victims. It was a great loss to the team, but we pulled through. What does he hope to accomplish?”

Prentiss gave her thoughts, “We’ve seen a lot of people with the goal of causing chaos and Hannibal definitely reads as such. He is instructing our unsub on the kills but leaving out enough details to keep us off his trail. He might not know that his new associate is giving him away with the name they give.”

“We should probably get back out there for another interview, then,” Hotch grabbed a file from the table, “let's go.”

“So,” Jack sat down across from the man in cuffs, “this does not sound like the Abigail Hobbs I know.” He played one of the recordings from a visit with Peter Bland. 

Hannibal huffed a laugh. “No, it does not.”

“There is some pretty incriminating stuff on these tapes. Now, you’re already here for life, but I would like to know how to find this man.” Even Will, who was very used to the intimidating glare of agent Crawford, shrunk at its presence.

“Now Jack, you know me, I like to keep things interesting. That is pretty impossible inside a prison.” The man across from him grunted in acknowledgment. “I can  _ show you  _ where he will be, but I will not  _ tell you  _ .”

Jack restrained himself from yelling a, ‘bullshit,’ and stood up. The metal chair produced a grinding noise as Hannibal stood up as well. It made Will wince and Jack raised an eyebrow. The doctor whispered something into the agent's ear. 

“Huh,” somehow, the older man managed to keep his cool, “I’ll think about it.” Whatever Hannibal said meant something to him, because the disgruntled look painted on his face was gratifying. 

Jack burst into the room in a flurry, “He just told me he knows  _ exactly  _ where the next dumpsite is and  _ when  _ the Bland will be there.”

“We should try to take that offer, right? I mean, we’ve petitioned for it in similar circumstances,” Emily observed.

“Is that a good idea though? This case is much more public, if a civilian were to see him, we could get in  _ big  _ trouble with the press.”

“Spence is right, we’d have a  _ lot  _ of reporters like Lounds on our hands, not to mention angry families.”

“Everybody quiet! We’re going to petition for it. I don’t care what the press thinks, I care about finding this guy,” Jack dialed his superior’s number and walked out. The team looked to Will, searching for an answer to their boss’ anger, and the man looked like a deer in headlights for a good moment. 

“He has every reason to be pissed; that case did a number on all of us. Jack is the only one that stayed with the bureau after the ordeal.” There were different reactions, all in sympathy for their boss.

Giving in to his friends’ curiosity, Hotch asked, “Why was this case different than any other?”

“It’s… classified, but, maybe you’ll know someday.” He left the room and there was a muffled conversation before they returned to silence.

With Hannibal brooding on the other side of the glass, Morgan mumbled, “That sounds… heavy.” Various sounds of agreement followed the statement, then they returned to a lighter note of conversation.

After a brutal, but thankfully, short court case, the BAU had clearance to take Hannibal out of prison so he could show them where to find Peter. Every time the bastard listed off the next direction, Will felt the urge to pull out his gun. It was an instinct deeply ingrained in him; probably also by Hannibal. The older had insisted that they be in the same vehicle, which was permitted under strict regulation.

“Right here. That park.” Agents soon swarmed the scene and Jack dragged Hannibal out of the SUV, the criminal having the audacity to complain. He shoved him forward, Hannibal stumbling to regain balance.

“Uncuff me,” he replied coolly, “and I’ll show you precisely where.” 

Jack growled, “Are you shitting me?” All he got was a smirk, so he took a shaky breath. The keys jangled as he stuffed them into the lock, freeing Hannibal. Before either of them could blink, his gun was against the asshole’s back. “One wrong move, you’re dead.”

“That tree. I think you can leave me be to go investigate now, there seems to be enough of a police presence.” The smile he flashed was something that haunted his nightmares too long.

Right on time, a voice called from where Hannibal had pointed, “We’ve got a body! Shit… sir, we have multiple bodies.” As he trekked the short distance, he saw the rest of the BAU’s vehicles pull up. The slamming of doors followed and Jack was now confident that the killer was in good hands.

The BAU hadn’t come across many cases this complex, but they usually ended up feeling like fish out of water. This though was something they could handle. As Reid closed the door behind him, gun drawn, he looked into the treeline.

Hannibal had Will by the arm, pulling him close and talking into his ear. The other looked close to tears, the terror visible in his features. His chest heaved and he was trying to pull away, so Spencer interrupted, “Hey, hands off!” The taller man let go of Will, who shrugged off the touch. Hannibal was put back in cuffs and hauled to the prison transport van, fangs showing in his grin. “Are you okay?”

“Fine. I’m gonna…” he pointed over to where the local P.D. was setting up an excavation site. 

They found 12 victims that weren’t listed previously, each corresponding with a Ripper victim. Peter Bland was arrested a block away from the run-down park and promptly shipped off to the Milburn Correctional Facility, where the team could keep a close eye on him for a while.

Sitting in a room that had become acquainted with over the past week, surrounded by people that you will probably never see again is usually a sad thing. Even worse was that, seeing Jack, Brian, and Jimmy again had sparked a feeling of loneliness in Will. He found himself dreading returning home with the knowledge that any one of them was a phone call away all these years and none of them had the courage to contact one another until a tragedy did it for them.

He was lost in his own head, Hannibal’s voice ringing in his ears,  _ ‘I know the most intimate parts of you, Will. You’re trying, but you can’t hide from me. Sooner or later, you’ll become what you were meant to be, and when you do, you’ll know where I am.’  _ He kept thinking one thing, did Hannibal do all of this just to get him alone? It was a probable explanation, he thought. 

He heard laughing and someone calling his name, which cleared the haze, and he looked up. “Jack was asking you something,” Brian chuckled.

“I want to know if you’d like a place on the team full-time. You don’t have to make the decision now, but-” 

“I don’t know, I mean last time you had me working cases, I got Anti-NMDAR Encephalitis. Is it really a good idea,” he joked.

“You are  _ infuriating _ , Will Graham, but I would love you here. Plus, the other two idiots have already signed on.” The younger laughed and ducked his head.

“I think I’ll take you up on your offer, Chief Crawford.”

“Call me that again, I’ll fire you.” In their joking, Will had pretty much forgotten that anyone else was there. The BAU, which he would soon technically be a part of, were tucked into a corner of the room, immersed in their conversations. 

“Hey, now that you’re going to be one of us, I think you told me that you would spill details on the Ripper case,” several whoops came from the team, who hadn’t expected Hotch to be the one to ask.

“That is a  _ long  _ story. I guess it starts when Jack walks into my lecture hall after class - he was kind of fucking rude - asking for my help on an investigation. Long story short, Dr. Lector was called in, too - to ‘keep an eye on me’. He was my physiatrist, kind of. But we were also friends.”

At the end of the story, which was a collaborative effort from the four agents, the others were shocked into silence. 

“I… I am so so sorry that this happened to you!” Garcia had been holding back an ocean of tears, which fell onto the shoulder of a very stiff W

**Author's Note:**

> Freddie was not arrested because they didn't have enough evidence to convict her :)
> 
> I am considering turning this into a series, so I would love some feedback.


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